The New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad smiles as he congratulates goaltender Igor Shesterkin after their win over the Boston Bruins in an NHL game Friday in Boston.
                                 AP photo

The New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad smiles as he congratulates goaltender Igor Shesterkin after their win over the Boston Bruins in an NHL game Friday in Boston.

AP photo

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<p>The New York Rangers’ Dryden Hunt, center, is congratulated by Artemi Panarin (10) and Adam Fox after scoring against the Boston Bruins during the second period of an NHL game Friday in Boston.</p>

The New York Rangers’ Dryden Hunt, center, is congratulated by Artemi Panarin (10) and Adam Fox after scoring against the Boston Bruins during the second period of an NHL game Friday in Boston.

BOSTON — Artemi Panarin scored the first of New York’s three third-period goals with 8:25 left and the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Friday, giving Gerard Gallant the best start in his first 20 games as coach in team history.

The Rangers have 31 points in Gallant’s first 20. Phil Esposito held the previous mark with 30 in 1986-87.

Ryan Strome, Dryden Hunt, Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba also scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves. The Rangers have won three straight and seven of eight.

Craig Smith and Patrice Bergeron scored for Boston.

CAPITALS 4, PANTHERS 3

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored two of his three goals over 56 seconds in the second period and Washington beat Florida.

Ovechkin has 18 goals, most through 21 games in a season by a player in at least his 17th season. He’s 19 goals from passing Jaromir Jagr for third on the career list following his 28th hat trick.

Washington has won eight of 10 and ended Florida’s four-game winning streak. Ilya Samsonov stopped 19 shots for the Capitals.

Sergei Bobrovsky allowed Tom Wilson’s eighth goal, which tied it at 1 at 1:34 of the second, and Ovechkin’s first goal. Bobrovsky left after Ovechkin’s goal at 2:50 but returned after Ovechkin scored against Spencer Knight at 3:46.

STARS 3, AVALANCHE 1

DALLAS — Joe Pavelski scored twice in 20 seconds in the opening 1:31 to reach 400 career goals, and two goaltenders combined to shut down the NHL’s highest-scoring team as Dallas beat Colorado.

Denis Gurianov added a power-play goal for Dallas, which has won its last five home games and five of six overall.

Cale Makar scored at 16:39 of the third period with the extra skater on the ice for Colorado, which had its six-game winning streak halted. Makar has goals in a franchise-record five straight games for a defenseman.

Jake Oettinger made 33 saves and earned the win. Oettinger was replaced by Braden Holtby during the last 7:22 of the second period after being struck in the head by Nicolas Aube-Kubel. He returned for the third period.

Colorado’s Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots and had his personal five-game winning streak — the longest active run in the NHL — stopped.

PENGUINS 1, ISLANDERS 0

NEW YORK — Tristan Jarry made 25 saves, Kasperi Kapanen scored in the second period and Pittsburgh kept depleted New York winless at its new arena.

Pittsburgh won its fifth straight, with Jarry driving the hot streak. His shaky play cost the Penguins in a six-game first-round playoff loss to the Islanders in May, but he’s allowed two goals over his last five starts and is 5-1-1 on the road this season.

The Islanders lost for the eighth straight time in regulation and lost their fourth in a row to open UBS Arena. Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves.

The Islanders are without seven players because of COVID-19 protocols, including captain Anders Lee and top scorer Josh Bailey.

LIGHTNING 3, KRAKEN 0

TAMPA, Fla. — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 17 saves in his 200th victory and Tampa Bay beat Seattle for its sixth win in seven games.

Steven Stamkos, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Ross Colton scored for Tampa Bay, which improved to 8-1-3 in November.

Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay’s first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2012 draft, is 200-86-22 since making his debut on Dec. 16, 2014. He was rarely tested in his 28th shutout and second in two games after blanking the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Philipp Grubauer made 23 saves for Seattle, which is 1-7-1 on the road in its first NHL season and 0-6-1 in its past seven games away from Climate Pledge Arena.

WILD 7, JETS 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kirill Kaprizov scored and tied a career high with three assists to help the Minnesota Wild rout the Winnipeg Jets 7-1 on Friday.

Mats Zuccarello scored twice before leaving with an apparent injury, Alex Goligoski, Ryan Hartman, Jon Merrill and Matt Dumba also scored in the start of a five-game homestand. Minnesota is 6-2-0 on home ice, scoring at least four goals in each win.

Cam Talbot made 30 saves.

Zuccarello went to the locker room late in the second period after an uncalled slash to the left wrist by Nathan Beaulieu. Zuccarello did not return.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for Winnipeg.

SABRES 4, CANADIENS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tage Thompson scored twice, Cody Eakin had a goal and an assist, and Buffalo beat Montreal to snap a four-game skid.

Buffalo also got a short-handed goal from Kyle Okposo and won for the third time in 13 games. Victor Olofsson and Jeff Skinner each had two assists. Dustin Tokarski made 25 saves.

Josh Anderson scored for the Canadiens, and Sam Montembeault stopped 35 shots. Montreal has lost six of seven and fell to 1-9-1 on the road.

HURRICANES 6, FLYERS 3

PHILADELPHIA — Sebastian Aho scored twice, Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and an assist and Carolina beat Philadelphia.

Jesper Fast, Steven Lorentz and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes, They completed a six-game trip by winning four of six.

Ivan Provorov, Joel Farabee and Rasmus Ristolainen scored for Philadelphia. The Flyers have lost five in a row.

The Hurricanes took control by outscoring Philadelphia 4-1 in the second period.

BLUE JACKETS 4, CANUCKS 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Elvis Merzlikins stopped 39 shots, Gustav Nyquist scored short-handed and had an assist, and Columbus beat Vancouver.

Jack Roslovic scored the tiebreaking goal 6:06 into the third period for Columbus, and Adam Boqvist and Max Domi also scored. The Blue Jackets have won three straight and four of five.

Vancouver has lost five in a row on the road. Vasily Podkolzin and Tyler Motte scored, and Thatcher Demko stopped 17 shots as the Canucks lost for the eighth time in their last nine games.

DUCKS 4, SENATORS 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Rickard Rakell had a goal and an assist, Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves and Anaheim beat Ottawa.

Troy Terry had a power-play goal and Isac Lundestrom and Derek Grant also scored to help the Ducks end a three-game losing streak. Stolarz got his fourth career shutout, and rookie center Trevor Zegras had two assists.

Anton Forsberg made 29 saves for the Senators. They have dropped four in a row and have only one victory in their past 11 games.

BLACKHAWKS 3, BLUES 2, OT

CHICAGO — Alex DeBrincat scored 1:27 into overtime and Chicago overcame an early two-goal deficit to beat St. Louis.

DeBrincat beat Jordan Binnington for his 12th goal with a one-timer from the left side of the crease after taking a cross-ice feed from Patrick Kane on a 2-on-1 break.

Chicago snapped a five-game losing streak against St. Louis and improved to 6-2-0 under interim coach Derek King.

Brandon Hagel scored for the third straight game — on a deflection with 5:04 left in the third period — to tie it at 2. Jujhar Khaira also scored in regulation, and Kevin Lankinen made 23 saves.

Pavel Buchnevich and Ivan Barbashev scored in the first period for St. Louis.

PREDATORS 4, DEVILS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Roman Josi and Alexandre Carrier each scored and had an assist to lead Nashville over New Jersey.

Philip Tomasino and Mikael Granlund also scored and Juuse Saros made 23 saves for Nashville, winners of two of three.

Andreas Johnsson and Tomas Tatar scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves for New Jersey, losers of two straight.